After years of witnessing the dysfunction in Albany, Nick Comaianni is ready to take to the New York State Assembly floor.

“I'm not afraid to stand up to the leaders in Albany to make necessary changes and voice my opinion," said Comaianni, who is no stranger to taking charge of difficult situations, having served as the president of Community Education Council District 24 for the last seven years.

As a candidate for the 38th Assembly District, Comaianni’s own ideas involve seniors, veterans, the economy and education. He feels that seniors should receive more breaks in the form of tax credits or some sort of subsidy so that they don’t have to decide between paying taxes and utilities on a house they’ve already worked hard to pay off, and feeding themselves.

Comaianni also believes there aren’t enough support systems in place for veterans. A veteran himself, he recalls coming home from the service and having no clue as to what services were available to him. After meeting a young vet who had recently come home, he realized that little had changed in 20 years.

“It was sad for me to see the same situation I had getting out of the military,” said Comaianni. “You risk your life for your country, and then there's nothing waiting for you."

He mentioned that when Citi Field and the new Yankees Stadium were built, the work of putting anti-corrosion/anti-rust coating on metal, which is Comaianni’s particular industry, was contracted to out-of-state companies.

Especially in times of fiscal uncertainty, he said, projects need to remain in New York State. He also scolded the Assembly for cutting important programs and raising taxes instead of looking into and eliminating programs that no longer work.

One area he would never cut, said Comaianni, is education, a subject he knows well.

"Education's not the first thing you look at and it's not something you look at with the rest of everything else,” he said. ”Kids get an education one time only in their lives, so you definitely don't want to touch that. That’s the future.”